I Can't Believe I Never Noticed You're a Fortune Cookie
by LaprasBtch
Summary: "Draco...I'm married. Things have changed. Hell, five years have passed. Do we have to rehash the past?" She sighs, shaking head. She takes a sip of her coffee before looking at her watch. It's getting late. Ron will be expecting her home soon. "For me, it's not the past...what if I told you I want you to leave your husband and run away with me?" Dramione!
1. Is she your girlfriend?

**AN: **

**I hope you guys don't hate me, but I decided to rewrite the first two chapters...again. I know, I know. I just had a few people tell me that these two chapters were the weaker ones and when I read over them, I agreed. They didn't flow as well as the rest of the story. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the rewrite of this and the next chapter! Let me know what you guys think in the reviews!**

_**-Dramione-**_

"Could I get a large cappuccino?" Hermione asked the mousey woman behind the counter. She nodded and smiled in return.

"£2.30." The barista said. Hermione pulled out a few bills from her wallet and handed them over. She placed the coin change in the tip jar and nodded as the other woman thanked her.

"It'll be right up." She said before waving the next customer forward. Hermione stepped to the side as an older black-haired man took her place. The blond man behind him quirked his eyebrow. That woman looked familiar to him. He watched her as she smiled at the barista. He knew that smile anywhere.

"Hermione, Hermione Granger, is that you?" He called out, half hoping she wouldn't turn around. Hermione looked around, trying to figure out who'd called her name. She didn't think anyone around here would know her. It was one of the reasons she'd popped in for a drink before going home. Her eyes stopped as they came across a familiar grey-eyed man.

"Draco? What are you doing here?" She asked, her eyebrows narrowing into an almost V shape. Why in the world would Draco Malfoy be in a Muggle coffee shop in the middle of Muggle London? He was a little out of place, wasn't he? Besides, she'd thought he'd moved countries. Last she'd heard of him, he'd been moving to his family's villa in France.

"Just grabbing a cup of coffee. You?" He responded. Five minutes after seeing her for the first time in years and he was already rolling his eyes. How typical.

"In Muggle London? I thought you were living in France now?" She asked, trying to stay pleasant. She was in public; it wouldn't do to punch him in the face like she had back in school, even if he was being a prat.

"Nope. I never left London, actually." He said with a shrug. He hadn't realized he'd needed to inform her that he changed his mind about moving. It wasn't like they were dating anymore.

"Ah." Hermione said, unsure of what else to say. A silence crept between the two. Hermione tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked down at her heels, trying to think of something else to say.

"Hey, Debra!"

Hermione looked up, hearing Draco's voice. The older man had moved away from the counter after paying for his drink, and Draco had stepped forward, to take his place. The barista, Debra, smiled at him, a dimple appearing in her left cheek.

Hermione sighed. Apparently that conversation was over. Whatever. He wasn't really someone she wanted to talk to anyways. She had better things to do with her time, like finish that new novel she'd bought last week. Stephen King's works always seemed to make her heart race a little faster than anything else. She watched the other barista, a red-headed man about her age, make her cappuccino, wishing he'd hurry up.

"Drake, how are you?" Debra asked Draco with a smile. The woman fingered her earring, twisting it back and forth. Hermione pushed back a snort. This girl clearly liked him. Poor Debra. Too bad Draco didn't go for Muggles…

"Great, loving this weather. Could I get a small coffee?" He responded with a smile of his own.

…Or he hadn't used to. Maybe he did now. Wouldn't surprise her. Draco would fuck just about anything that moved after all.

"Only if you say please." She said, a dimple appearing in her left cheek. Oh Merlin, they were flirting. How wonderful. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Please." He said, drawing the word out childishly. "With sprinkles and a cherry on top?" He stuck his lower lip out just ever so slightly. Hermione could gag.

"Alright, alright." The barista put her hands up in surrender. "Just don't give me the puppy dog eyes. £1.20."

"Thank you, my dear." He responded with a wink. Hermione coughed, trying to cover up a laugh. A fucking _wink_? She rolled her eyes. Draco was better than that. He was trying way to hard. Apparently he was desperate to get laid. As always.

"You're welcome, now go away. I have drinks to make." She shooed him and waved the next customer forward.

Draco stepped next to Hermione to wait for his drink. She glanced sideways at him. What did he want? She shifted her weight from the balls of her feet to her heels and back impatiently.

"What did you get?" Draco asked Hermione after a few silent moments.

"A cappuccino." She responded flatly. She reached up to tuck another strand of hair behind her ear but found none there, so she dropped her hand.

"Debra makes the best cappuccinos." He said with a smile. He shoved his hands in his back pockets, searching for something else to say. It had never been this hard to talk to her before.

"Ah." Hermione paused. "Is she your girlfriend?" She nodded towards Debra. Draco sneered, his upper lip curling.

"Goodness no. Just a friend. I come here pretty often and get on well with the staff." He responded with a shrug.

"Ah." She shrugged in return. Draco looked around the store, his eyes dancing from thing to thing. As much as he loved this place, they could really use a decorator. There was mismatched furniture everywhere and the walls were this weird bright yellow. The owner must be as colorblind as Dumbledore had been. That man had worn the fucking oddest mismatched robes he'd ever seen.

"So, you're still living in London?" Hermione asked after a moment. Draco nodded.

"Yea. Working at Saint Mungos." He was still incredibly happy to have gotten that job, even if he was nothing more than a glorified nurse. He loved working there. It made him feel like he was actually doing something worthwhile with his life.

"Cool." Hermione said with an eyebrow raised in surprise. She hadn't expected that. Maybe a potions master, but a healer? She'd never have guessed it. Now that she thought about it, it made sense though. He'd always had a knack for that sort of thing.

"You?" He swept his thumb across the edge of his pocket, feeling the fabric.

"Working at the Ministry, under Arthur Weasley." She grinned, remembering what had just happened at the office.

A group of centaurs had accidently wandered into a group hiking through a national park in the States. The magical government over there had called them for some help, but sadly, Arthur had had quite a bit of trouble working the telephone.

He spent the rest of the day muttering about why the Americans couldn't use bloody owls like the rest of the world. She didn't have the heart to tell him that the rest of the world actually used phones more than owls. Britain was a bit behind the times with that one.

"That's right, you married Weasel last year, didn't you?" Draco raised his eyebrow and sneered. He hadn't been able to believe it when he'd read that article in the paper. Out of everyone, she'd chosen Weaselbee. She really could've done better than that. That man was just a dumb bag of bricks, undeserving of someone as bright and beautiful as Hermione.

"His name is Ron. But I've been working with Arthur for a few years now." She grit her teeth behind her closed lips. She really couldn't punch him. Not here. She could follow him later and curse him though. A nice tongue-tying hex would teach him to keep his damn mouth shut.

"What do you do?" Draco asked, trying to change the subject. He glanced at Robbie, who was making Hermione's drink. He was almost done. And then she was going to leave. He chewed on his bottom lip.

"I deal with all the Muggle and Wizarding interactions and such." Hermione grimaced. The job sounded a lot easier than it was.

"Sounds right up your alley." Draco said, raising an eyebrow at her grimace. He would have figured that she'd like a job like that. Ever since their first year at Hogwarts, she'd said she wanted to bring the Muggle and Wizarding world together. That and get House Elves rights. He betted she did that in her spare time. When she wasn't fucking Weaselbee, of course. Though, he doubted they had all that of great of a sex life. Weasel seemed like the vanilla missionary type, too simple for anything else.

"It's not perfect, but I like it." She responded with a shrug. It wasn't her dream job, but it paid well and didn't keep her too busy.

"Weren't you going to teach at Hogwarts?" He asked, curious. Back when they had been together, all she had talked about was wanting to teach. She believed learning about Muggles was the only way anyone was ever going to bridge the gap between the Wizarding and Muggles. At one point, she'd even thought about applying to Hogwarts.

They'd broken up before she had, but he'd assumed she'd done it. He was actually surprised she wasn't teaching there now instead of working at the Ministry. There was no way McGonagall wouldn't have given her a spot, not with how qualified she was.

"Things changed." She said flatly. She tucked her hands into the pocket of her peat coat.

"Oh." He paused. "Mind if I ask why?"

"What I wanted out of life changed. I want to start a family, and I can't really do that teaching at Hogwarts." She shrugged. Ron wanted kids. That was hardly surprising considering his family.

"Weasel push you into that?" Draco's eyebrows narrowed and his lip twisted in another sneer. Well, that was a surprise. When they'd been together, she'd said she'd never have a kid. Said she didn't want to bring a child into a world like this. Admittedly, that had been right after Voldemort had been defeated and when Death Eaters were still roaming the countryside. But still. It didn't seem like her.

"I make my own decisions, thanks." Her eyes hardened, and she stepped away from him. Ron didn't control her life. She did. Draco chewed on his lip again. He really needed to stop doing that. It was a bad habit from his teens that he'd never really dropped.

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to offend." He paused. "Just, you always said you never wanted kids when we were together."

She rolled her eyes.

"I changed my mind. Can't a person do that?" She ran a hand through her bangs. The hair flopped back on to her forehead haphazardly. Draco sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He really knew how to put his foot in his mouth.

"Yea. Uh. Sorry." He mumbled.

"Here's your cappuccino, M'am." Hermione thanked Robbie as she took her cup. She turned back towards Draco.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around." She waved slightly with her free hand in a goodbye gesture. Draco chewed on his lip for a moment.

"Hey, you want to maybe grab a table? Catch up for bit?" He asked. For some reason or another, he didn't really want her to leave quite yet.


	2. Even if He is a Bloody Wanker

**AN: **

**Now, I hope you guys don't hate me, but I decided to rewrite the first two chapters...again. I know, I know. I just had a few people tell me that these two chapters were the weaker ones and when I read over them, I agreed. They didn't flow as well as the rest of the story. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 1 and will continue to enjoy this one! Let me know what you guys think in the reviews!**

_**-Dramione-**_

She said, looking down at her drink. She'd really kind of wanted to drink this in one of the cushy old armchairs in the corner of the shop and read her book. Not sit and talk to Draco Malfoy. She didn't want to be mean and say no, though. Besides, she had missed talking to him. Even if he was a bloody wanker.

"Sure. Why not." She told him with a small smile. Draco returned it with a shy one of his one. He looked around the shop for an empty table.

"Alright, here my favorite table is open, mind snagging it while I wait for my coffee?" He asked, nodding towards the shop's store window where a small circular table sat. The two walked over. She nodded in response and walked over to it.

She sighed in relief as she sat, happy to get off her feet. The one bad thing about her job was theit kept her on her feet all day. She was always running from the owerly to the courtrooms to her office and back. Wizards couldn't cast a spell out of sight of Muggles for any more than five minutes it seemed.

She sighed and rested her cheek on her palm, her elbow sitting on the table. Looking out the window, she couldn't help but wonder what the people walking by were doing. She was sure none of them were going to go have coffee with their ex. Then again, she hadn't really set out to do that either.

Draco slid into the seat across from her, holding a steaming paper cup. He loved the coffee here, but he always had to wait five minutes before drinking it, otherwise he'd burn his throat. He looked around and cast a wandless cooling charm on it. Hermione raised an eyebrow tiredly.

"That's technically illegal, you know?" He shrugged.

"No one saw me." He responded, rolling his eyes. It was true. He'd checked before he'd cast the spell, and no one had been paying any attention to the two of them.

"You'd be surprised how many times I've heard that one in court." She said before sipping her drink. It seemed to come up in every case, actually. She shook her head.

"So, Saint Mungos. How's that going?" She asked him, curious as to how he was doing there. It had certainly been a surprise to hear that that was where he was working now. She'd never quite pictured him as a healer.

"Good. We just had a bunch of kids come in with Dragon Pox though. Damn parents need to start vaccinating their kids." He looked at her, narrowing his eyebrows. "Whenever you and Weasel have kids, you'd better get them vaccinated."

"Only if you stop using magic in front of Muggles." She responded, rolling her eyes. As if she wouldn't get her kids vaccinated. She wasn't that stupid. She sipped her drink. Draco was right at least about the cappuccino; it was fairly tasty.

"Alright, alright. Fair enough. If it means I don't have to see another two year old with Dragon Pox, I'd be happy to give up using magic in front of Muggles." He said, fighting the urge to roll his own eyes.

"I'm sure that's got to be hard to see." Hermione said, looking down into her drink. They still hadn't found a cure for Dragon Pox, though they were now able to vaccinate for it. A lot of the pureblood families, however, were refusing to vaccinate. They didn't believe it worked. Instead, they assumed that the vaccinations would just infect and kill their children. They refused to listen to the science behind it. It was ridiculous.

"Yea. It takes a toll on all of us healers, though I can only imagine what the parents are going through." He paused, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. Seeing those kids laying in the quarantine beds, their faces tear stained, it was worse than anything he'd seen when Voldemort had lived at the manor.

"I'm sure." She said quietly. There were some things she didn't want to imagine. That was one of them. She couldn't even fathom what that would be like. You like through a war, get married and have a child only for the child to die of one of the only incurable magical diseases? She sighed.

Draco took a drink of his coffee. He grimaced. He should've put some more creamer in it. It was a bit too bitter for his likes.

"So, I imagine McGonagall was crushed when she found out you weren't going to teach at Hogwarts." He said, fishing for a different subject. Hermione barks a short bitter laugh.

"She wasn't happy that's for sure. She's still trying to convince to come back and teach. In fact, she's offered me the position of the Muggle Studies professorship for next year. Apparently, their current professor is retiring at the end of this year." She said, sighing. She'd received McGonagall's letter last week. She was expecting an answer within two months, but Hermione wasn't sure if she knew what to say back. She had yet to show to Ron, or really told anyone at all about it.

"Are you going to accept it?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow. Even though he hadn't seen her in years, he could still catch the indecision flickering across her face. She bit her lip.

"I don't know, honestly." She took a sip of her drink to avoid elaborating. She wanted to take the job, but she had other things to worry about like her relationship with her husband.

"You should take it." He smiled encouragingly. "You'd be great at it. I always thought you were meant to teach. Hell, you made Mr. Pureblood himself fall in love with the modern microwave after all." Hermione rolled her eyes. She could still remember the day she introduced Draco to microwaves like yesterday. In fact, she'd actually thought about saving a copy of the memory in a pensieve just so she could have blackmail over the man.

"You know, I've got one of those things in my flat." He said with a grin. He used it for about everything. It was incredible. He still couldn't believe that Muggles had come up with it before Wizards had.

"You're not living in the Manor anymore?" She asked, confused. Surprisingly, the Ministry had let the Malfoys keep their family home after the War. She felt it had something to do with Harry testifying at their Wizengamot trial, but she'd always kept that opinion to herself.

"No." He said flatly. Lucius had disowned him some time ago. He'd been living on his own ever since. He couldn't say he minded though, it was good to be away from his father and the old manor. Both had too many bad memories attached. He still kept in contact with his mother though.

"Ah." She shrugged, not pushing for explanation. She sipped her drink. She would have to come back here again; they really did make good drinks. They were significantly less expensive than most of the wizarding shops too.

"That Hogwarts job, you should really consider it." He said, chewing on his lower lip. Hogwarts needed someone like her. The school was stuck too far in the old times to adequately prepare students for the modern day. If he had a child who was Hogwarts, he'd probably send them to Durmstrang or one of the American wizarding schools instead. Anything but Hogwarts. The school was just incredibly far behind the times.

"I am." She paused, pursing her lips. "Though, I'm not sure how well I'll get along with the other professors. Especially Trelawney." She rolled her eyes at the thought of the old woman. That crazy old bat should've been removed from her position years ago. Hermione looked down at her drink and faked a gasp.

"Oh my! Is that a grim in the foam of my drink? Dark times are coming!" She said, upping the pitch of her voice in an attempt to match her old professor's. Draco snorted.

"Why Hermione are you predicting the future?" He gasped in the same manner she had. "I never knew you were a fortune cookie!" Hermione laughed in return.

"I really hope that woman isn't teaching any more." Hermione said, rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"I heard she retired a while a back" Draco paused. "Or rather, McGonagall heavily suggested that she deserved a break from all the madness of teaching and all the disbelieving students." Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed. That was something McGonagall do.

"Well than, if I do end up taking the job, at least I won't have to deal with her." She said. He smiled.

"See there's a benefit." He responded.

"I'm still thinking about it. Right now I've got more important things to deal with. Like getting home in time for dinner." She said, checking her watch. Draco grimaced. She was going back to Weasel. Lovely.

"You know, you don't have to go back." Draco paused, searching for the words. "You could leave, if you wanted."

"Draco…"She sighed, closing her eyes. They'd been having a perfectly fine conversation, why did he have to ruin it?

"I could come with you. I mean, we could leave. Together." He smiled weakly. "It could be like old times."

"Old times are old for a reason." She replied with a shake of her head. "Look, I've got to go home. I'll see you around, alright?" She threw him a small smile and buttoned up her jacket before heading towards the door.

Draco chewed on his lip, watching her leave. He wished he could follow her, but he couldn't, so he settled for drinking his coffee instead.

Walking outside, Hermione sighed and looked up at the cloud-covered sky. She cursed the weather, wondering if it was going to snow again. It was only November, couldn't the flurries hold off for another month at least?

She ducked into a nearby alley after looking around to make sure no one was watching her. Pulling her wand out of her pocket, she muttered a quick spell and apparated home.


	3. A Secret Stash of Wine

She stared at the dingy carpet of their flat. Hadn't she vacuumed this yesterday? Muttering under her breath, she waved her wand. The spell was supposed to take the dirt out, but the floor looked just as brown tinted as before. Oh the beauty of having a husband who worked as an auror, always tracking in mud and, on occasion, blood through the house. One would think that after all this time he would've learned how to properly use _scourgify_.

Sighing, she kicked off her shoes and placed them next to Ron's dirt incrusted ones. Rolling her eyes, she whispered and flicked her wand. The dirt crumbled away from the shoes and disappeared.

"Ron, I'm home." She called out, as she began taking off her jacket. No response. Twenty gallons says he's napping, she thought to herself. She sighed and walked into the kitchen. She kneeled down and opened the cabinet below the sink. Smiling, she took out her secret wine stash. It wasn't really secret. Ron knew it was there, but because he hated the taste of wine, he never drank any, so the wine was her's and her's alone.

She turned and grabbed a wineglass from one of the upper cabinets. Where was their corkscrew? She shuffled around the kitchen, looking in various drawers. Finally, she pulled it out of the junk drawer next to the fridge.

"Aha!" She whispered in delight, before moving back to the bottle and pouring herself a glass.

The only question now was if she should start dinner or not. She could always call for take-out. Ron loved it after all. He was obsessed with Muggle pizza. Molly had refused to buy it for the kids when they were younger because of how unhealthy she thought it was. So of course now that he was out of his mom's house, Ron ate it whenever he could; however, she was beginning to hate it. Maybe she could call in some Chinese food instead? Then again, she wasn't sure if they even had any Muggle money in the flat anyways. She'd spent the last of her's at the coffee shop and Ron never carried any.

Sighing, she walked over to the fridge and peered in it. Was there anything she could use to make a halfway decent meal? Let's see, shitty beer, mustard, slightly less shitty beer. She sighed. They really needed to go grocery shopping. She looked in some of the cupboard and found a few cans of tomato soup. That would do.

She poured the soup in a pot and set it on the oven for it to warm up before meandering into her and Ron's bedroom. Her redheaded husband was flopped across the bed, fully dressed and snoring. She sipped her wine and looked him over. The office seemed to be giving him and Harry more work lately. He came home exhausted everyday. They hadn't had a decent conversation in at least a month. She kneeled next to their bed and set her glass on the nightstand.

"Ron, dinner's ready." She got a snore for an answer.

"C'mon, Ron. Get up." She whispered in his ear, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He continued snoring. She sighed. He wasn't getting up anytime soon. Nothing could wake a Weasely from sleep. Not even a blowjob. She'd tried. She'd only gotten snores in response that time too.

Rolling her eyes, she stood up and walked back to the kitchen. She got a bowl and spooned some soup into it. She sat down at the kitchen table and stared at the food.

Healer Murphy had told her that if they wanted to have any chance of her becoming pregnant, she would have to eat more and healthier. The healer had also told her to stop drink alcohol, but she wasn't quite ready to take that step yet. After all, half the time, it felt like alcohol was the only thing that got her through the day.

She ate a spoonful and sighed. She couldn't stop thinking about having seen Draco. She couldn't believe the damn prat had had the nerve to call her a housewife. She most certainly was not a housewife. Not that there was anything wrong with being a housewife or anything. That just wasn't her dream. She wanted to do something more with her life.

At least Draco hadn't called her a mudblood or anything like he had back when they were in school. She was still having difficulty believing what he had said about being friends with nonmagical folk and the like. Didn't seem much like him or at least the Draco she knew. Then again maybe he'd changed. Who knew?

She looked down at her bowl. It was half empty. That was good enough, wasn't it? She dumped the rest in the trash before walking into the living room and grabbing _David Copperfield _from the shelf. She settled down in one of their armchairs with her wine and book and began reading. 

***Dramione*****Dramione*Dramione***

Around two in the morning a silver lynx flew through Ron and Hermione's front door. It bounded through the living room and into the two's bedroom. It opened its mouth and the deep rich voice of Ron's boss Kingsley filled the room.

"Weasely, we've got a lead on the Diagon Alley murders. We need you in right away."

The redheaded man sat up sleepily. During auror training, they'd taught him to wake up if he ever heard Kingsley's voice so that he'd be ready to react if the Ministry required it. They'd sent some sort of stinging jinx at him every time Kingsley had spoken for three weeks. He'd come to expect it whenever the older man spoke. It made department meetings a little hard to sit through sometimes.

He ran his hand over his face, trying to wipe the sleep from his face. He looked to his side. The bed was empty. Again. His wife hadn't been coming to bed lately. She'd been either staying at the office or sleeping in the living room. He sighed. They really needed to talk about that sooner or later.

He looked over at the alarm clock beside the bed. It was 2 AM. Couldn't Kingsley get some better timing? He flopped back on to the bed, wondering if he had time to make some coffee before he had to leave.

He looked over at the silver lynx standing in his bedroom doorway, waiting for it to deliver the second half of its message. Patronuses only disappeared when they'd delivered their full message. They were bound to stay at the location they were instructed to go to until they were able to preform the entirety of the task they'd been given.

"And no, you do not have time for coffee." The lynx said as it faded away. Ron swore he saw the think smirk just before it completely disappeared. Damn lynxes. He pushed himself out of bed and looked down. He was still in his work robes from yesterday. That made things easy. He cast a quick refreshing charm on them and stood up.

He walked out into the living room, trying to step quietly so as to not wake his wife if she were sleeping out there. He glanced over at the armchair in the corner of the room and smiled. There she was.

A book lay open on her chest, it having slipped from her hands when she'd fallen asleep. Her left arm was slung over the arm of the chair, an empty r wine glass dangling between her fingers. Her head rested on her shoulder, her bangs falling in front of her eyes.

He gently pried the wine glass stem from between her fingers and picked the book off her chest. He reshelved the book and placed the glass in the sink. He glanced at the coffee maker sitting next to the sink and grimaced.

"I could really go for some bloody coffee." He grumbled to himself. He walked back into the living room and grabbed the blanket from the couch. He laid the blanket across his wife's sleeping form before leaning over and kissing her forehead.

"Sleep well, Mione." He whispered, stroking her cheek softly. He headed towards the door where he slipped his shoes on and headed out.

As the door closed, Hermione shifted and whimpered. She clutched the blanket it to her, a voice bouncing around her head, 'You're lying you filthy little Mudblood, and I know it!' A soft cry escaped her lips. Behind her eyes, all she could see was a pair of heavily lidded eyes surrounded by a mass of thick black hair. 

***Dramione*****Dramione*Dramione***

She blinked, and blinked again, trying to banish the tiredness from her eyes. The living room slowly swam into focus before her. Did she fall asleep in the armchair again?

Ron was going to be pissed. He'd been going on and on lately about how he wanted the two of them to sleep in the same bed like normal married couples. She rolled her eyes.

Yawning, she pulled the blanket closer, trying to hide from the cold air. Wait, where had the blanket come from? She shrugged and tugged it closer. Sighing, she realized she should probably get up.

She walked into the bedroom and glanced at the bed in the middle of it. It had been slept in, but was unmade and empty. Ron had already left. He'd probably gotten called into work. Even though it was a Saturday he still had to work. In fact, he had to work everyday. He'd even worked Christmas Eve and day last year. She spent the entire day by herself, drinking wine and reading Stephen King.

Looking over at the alarm clock on the nightstand, she swore. It was already 11. She had her monthly appointment with Healer Murphy at half past 11. She sighed and rubbed her forehead with one hand while using the other to keep the blanket around her.

Grumbling about not having enough time to shower, she pulled a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt from her dresser. She dropped the blanket on the bed and changed clothes.

Grabbing her wand, she apparated to Saint Mungos. She sighed, looking at the sign hanging out front of the building. She just hoped she wouldn't run into Draco while she was here. She didn't think she could handle Murphy and Malfoy today. She sighed and pushed the door open. She headed towards the front desk and smiled at the older woman sitting on the other side.

"Hi, I have an 11:30 appointment with Healer Murphy." She said, trying to keep an eye out for the blonde haired Slytherine she just knew she was going to run in to.

"Alright dear, take a seat. She'll be right out." The older woman said with a kind smile before she walked to get Murphy from her office. Hermione sat in one of the waiting room chairs and yawned. As soon as she finished here, she was going back to sleep

_**A/N: **_

_**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews! :) **_

_**(Also, if you've read the first two chapters when they were in present-tense, I've changed them to past. Writing in present tense just got really annoying and I didn't like how it sounded. Lol.) **_


	4. Can He Observe?

_**AN:**_

_**lilbobcatgrl88: Thanks so much for your compliment! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so chapter is dedicated to you for being my first (non anonymous reviewer) for this story. I hope you enjoy! :) **_

_***Dramione*Dramione*Dramione***_

"Mrs. Weasely, it's lovely to see you again." Healer Murphy smiled at the younger woman in front of her. Hermione reached out and shook Murphy's hand.

"Please, Healer Murphy, I've told you a thousand times, call me Hermione." She responded with a smile of her own.

"I try, Hermione. I just always seem to forget." The healer laughed lightly. The two walked towards one of the examination rooms.

"So, let's start with a check-up and then we can move on to your treatment." The healer paused. "Actually, I had a favor to ask you regarding your treatment, Hermione." Hermione swallowed nervously and tucked an arrant stray of hair behind her ear. She nodded for the healer to continue.

"You see, I was wondering if a pupil of mine could sit in on your treatment just for learning purposes." Hermione bit her lip and shrugged. She'd been having treatments for six or so years, they weren't anything she was ashamed of.

"Sure." She responded, smiling slightly.

"Good, I'll inform him after our check-up. Speaking of which, we'll be doing it in here today." Murphy lead the younger woman into a small room furnished only with two wooden chairs, a small desk, and cabinet. Hermione settled into the chair across from the desk.

"Alright, I just have a couple of questions and then we can move on the treatment." Murphy pulled a quill and some parchment from the middle drawer. "First off, any changes?" Hermione shook her head.

"No, though, there's been a bit more pain lately." She responded with a grimace, remembering when she'd doubled over in pain at work with tears stinging her eyes. That hadn't been fun. Especially when she'd had to go to a meeting right after. It'd made talking about Muggle politics ever so much fun. She sighed.

"Just during your period?" The healer asked as she jotted something down on her parchment.

"No, it kind just comes and goes whenever." She said with a shrug. She'd gotten used to it somewhere along the line. After all, she'd had it for some time now.

"Have you thought at all about the option I offered you last time?" The healer stopped writing and looked up at Hermione.

"No. I can't" She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them, refusing to look the healer in the eyes. She couldn't. Ron wanted to start a family. They wanted to start a family, together.

"Hermione, at this rate, with how advanced the endometriosis is, it is likely that you won't be able to have a kid anyways." Hermione bit her lip, tears threatening to spill out.

"I know, just there's still a chance. Right?" The healer sighed.

"A small one, yes."

"Then, I want to keep trying." She gave the older woman a watery smile.

"Alright, let's move on to the treatment then." The older woman waved her wand and transfigured the cabinet in the corner into a small bed with white sheets.

"Go ahead and lay down, I'll be back in a few minutes." She nodded towards the bed as she stood up.

***Dramione*****Dramione*Dramione***

"Healer Malfoy!" Draco spun around as he heard his supervisor call his name. He spotted the grey-haired woman down the hall and walked to meet her.

"Lo Healer Murphy. How can I help you?" He asked her with a smile. The older woman smiled in return.

"I've got an opportunity for you, how would you like to sit it on a treatment session for stage four endometriosis?" The older woman responded as she and Draco began walking down the hall. "We typically don't get cases nearly this advanced. It would be a good chance for you to learn how to heal the lesions and just how to work with disease overall."

"I'd be happy to sit in, Healer Murphy. Are we going to preform it now?" He asked, happy to finally be doing some work with his supervisor. He'd been running rounds now for a few months. He wanted to start doing some actual healing, rather than updating charts and the like.

"Alright. Right this way." The woman paused for a moment before she opened the door. "Now be discreet Healer Malfoy. The patient is a bit shy about the condition, and a little quiet overall. You may observe; however, I would prefer if you did not speak to her except when necessary." The man nodded in understanding.

"Of course, Healer Murphy."

"Good. Let's get started then." She said, opening the door. She walked in, smiling at her patient.

"Alright, Mrs. Weasely let's get started. Go ahead and pull your shirt up over your stomach." Hermione rolled her eyes. She would never be able to get that woman to call her by her given name. The healer moved towards her and began casting a simple diagnostic spell to assess the damage the disease had done since the last treatment.

Draco, however, had difficulty moving. He hadn't been expecting it to be Hermione. Hell, the last person he'd been expecting in the entire world was her. He hadn't even known she had endometriosis.

"Healer Malfoy, please come in, so that I can introduce you to the patient, Mrs. Weasely." Draco walked over, smiling.

"Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Weasley. My name is Healer Malfoy. I'm here today to simply observe. Don't worry, I won't be preforming any spells." He told her with a wink. Surprisingly enough, Healer Murphy had told him a few days ago that he had one of the best bedside manners of all the healers currently at the hospital. He prided himself on being able to cheer patients up.

"Hello." Hermione replied, avoiding Draco's eyes. She'd known she'd probably see him. Fate just worked like that for her. But did he really have to be the pupil that was watching her treatment. First, she'd had to deal with Voldemort and delete her parent's memories. Then she'd gotten diagnosed with this mess and told she could probably never have children. Soon after, the first man she'd ever truly loved dumped her, and now he was standing right in front of her, observing her treatment for work. Fucking fantastic. She grit her teeth together, trying not to show her frustration. She just had to get through this treatment and she'd be fine.

"Alright, Healer Malfoy. Today I will be preforming a few diagonistic spells and a numbing spell to Mrs. Weasely's lower half. Then I will begin spelling away any lesions that have occurred in Mrs. Weasley's pelvic area. I will then attempt to banish any excess uterine cells from areas that they don't belong in. The latter spell can be particularly dangerous if not preformed right because the caster can accidently banish all uterus' lining if they are not careful." She paused and looked at Draco to make sure he was listening.

He nodded, trying to focus on his mentor's words rather than his ex-girlfriend who happened to be lying on a bed in front of him. Last time he'd had a view like this, Hermione's cheeks had been a little redder and her pants had been undone with her shirt pushed up over her bra. He chewed on his lip and attempted to banish the image from his head.

"Afterwards, I will preform another diagnostic spell to see how much of the damage I was able to fix. If not much has changed then I will repeat the process again until I am able to remove most of the wayward cells. Any questions, Healer Malfoy?" She asked. He shook his head.

"No Healer Murphy, please begin."

The healer turned towards Hermione and waved her wand over the woman's midsection. A blue light radiated from the tip of the wand. Draco watched, chewing on his lip.

_**AN:**_

_**I know this chapter is a lithe shorter, but I hope you all don't mind! I promise the next one will be longer. :)**_

_** Please let me know what you think in the reviews. :) **_


	5. Sensitivity and Soreness

_**AN: **_

_**Aquatine: Thanks so much for your review! I hope this chapter sates a little of your curiosity! ;) **_

_***Dramione*Dramione*Dramione***_

"Evanesce." The healer muttered, focusing on the excess uterine cells within Hermione. Her brow furrowed. Each time Mrs. Granger came in for a treatment, the cells seemed to have spread even further. She tried to spell them all away, but there were getting to be too many and she risked banishing healthy cells from her patient's body.

"Mrs. Weasely, I have done all I can do." Healer Murphy paused. "The cells are starting to spread further. I'm not sure how much longer we will be able to contain them. As you know, there is no cure for endometriosis. I urge you to reconsider a hysteric-" The other woman cut her off.

"I'm sorry, Healer Murphy, but that's just not possible for me." She said, pulling down her shirt. She winced as the fabric brushed over her skin. Despite the numbing charm, everything was still sensitive and would continue to be for a few days.

"Yes M'am." She nodded before turning to her pupil. "Healer Malfoy, do you have any questions about the treatment you witnessed?" The pale-haired man chewed on his lip.

"Is there anyway to permanently prevent the cells from returning, Healer Murphy? If we can banish them from the body, how come we cannot banish the disease as a whole from the body?"

"No, Healer Malfoy. Sadly, that is not possible. Because the disease is engrained into the cellular make-up, it would be impossible to do without banishing all of the cells both the healthy and unhealthy, in the area. It already puts the patient at great risk to banish these unhealthy cells, as if a single cell is moved too far out of place, the entire body can crash."

Draco nodded in understanding. He glanced over at Hermione. Did she really understand how much danger she was putting herself with this treatment? Cellular banishment was near unpracticed nowadays due to the danger it could cause. In fact Saint Mungos' ethics board was set to debate on if the practice of cellular banishment was even ethical to use.

"Mrs. Weasely how is the pain?" Murphy asked her patient. Hermione grimaced slightly in response.

"I'm still experiencing the same sensitivity as last time, and a little soreness." She said, trying to sit up.

"Mrs. Weasely, please don't try and move just yet. Your body needs a few moments to readjust. Now, is the soreness worse than that of the last treatment?" The healer asked, placing her hand on Hermione's shoulder and gently pushing her down. The witch huffed, folding her arms over her chest.

"It's about the same, though a little worse." She said with a shrug. Murphy pursed her lips.

"Next time, I will use a stronger numbing spell; however, it is possible that it will leave you without feeling in the lower half of your body for several hours."

"I think I might actually be a little thankful for that." Hermione replied with a slight smile. Not being able to feel meant she wouldn't be able to feel the pain like normal, didn't sound to bad to her.

"While I understand why you might feel that way, it would also make it impossible to tell if something went wrong with the treatment." The healer said, raising a disapproving eyebrow. Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't particularly care about that, she'd just like to have a few hours during which she knew her body couldn't cause her pain.

"Regardless, we'll see next month. Until our next session, please remember what I told you last time about eating properly. Also, just consider the surgery. Talk it over with your husband and family. I have several pamphlets on the subject for you to take with you and read." Murphy pulled a few papers out of her robe pocket and handed them to the other woman. "If the pain becomes worse, floo here immediately. It could be signaling that something went wrong with the spells."

Hermione nodded and folded up the pamphlets, putting them in her jacket. She'd trash them when she got home.

"Healer Malfoy, could you please escort Mrs. Weasely to the floo in ten minutes? Her body should be adjusted by then. I need to go file my notes from the appointment. Mrs. Weasely, do not be afraid to send me an owl if you have any questions." The elder woman nodded and turned towards the door without waiting for her pupl to respond.

"Healer Murphy-" Hermione began to say, but the door closed before she could finish.

"Fuck." She whispered.

"Not happy to be left with me, Mrs. Weasely?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Something like that." She snapped at the man. Draco frowned.

"Why's kitty got her claws out today?" He asked, dropping his previous professional manner.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's cause I just add a bunch of shit banished from my uterus." She ran a hand through her hair with a frustrated sigh. Her bangs flopped back on to her forehead as she removed her hand. Draco shook his head and smiled.

"I thought you were stronger than that Granger."

"Fuck you, Draco." She hissed.

"I'm sorry, isn't that Weasel's job now a days?" He asked, with a playful sneer.

"Oh, yea. I forgot, you quit that job a few years ago." She tapped her finger to her lip. "What was the reason you wrote in your two weeks? Something about finding someone else to fuck and never really loving your partner, right?" Draco's eyes hardened.

"I think you misread the letter if that's what you remember. In fact, I don't remember sending in a letter at all. I thought I was fired because my boss was jealous and thought I was working for someone else on the side." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it funny how some people remember just what they want to remember and nothing more?" She asked, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead. She opened them and looked at Draco's face. His eyebrows were narrowed and the corner of his lip was lifted, his classic anger face. She held back a laugh.

"Yep. It's hilarious." Draco responded, sneering. The two stared into one another's eyes, waiting to see which one of them who give up first.

"Quite." She responded flatly. She remembered things right, unlike him. She could even still remember when he heard him moan Pansy's name when they were making love, something he refused to admit he'd done.

Draco sighed. Hermione was delusional about the end of their relationship. She had accused him of moaning Pug-face Pansy's name during sex. Why the hell would he have been thinking about Pansy? Even after all these years, she apparently still thought he'd cheated on her. For the brightest witch of her age, she was really fucking stupid. He took a deep breath. It didn't really matter any more, anyways.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, slipping back into his healer mode. She was a patient first, ex-girlfriend second. He needed to do his job.

"Now you're asking how I feel? After all these years?" She slid her tongue along the inside of her lip, trying to bite back her anger. He had no right to ask her that. He didn't deserve to know anything about her feelings or her for that matter.

"I was referring to your abdomen. I was wondering if you were well enough to walk." He responded with a raised eyebrow. Her lower lip dropped slightly.

"Oh." She said. "Um, I'm okay. I think I can floo home now." She said, sitting up. She bit her lower lip as a dull pain hit her uterus. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and attempted to stand. Draco grabbed hold of her elbow with one hand and placed the other on her back, helping her to stand.

"I don't need your help." Hermione muttered at the man.

"Look, just let me do my job, okay?" He asked, worried that if he let go of her, she'd fall over.

"Fine." The two walked slowly out of the room and towards the hospital's fireplaces. Draco led her to an open one and handed her some floo powder before leaning in and whispering in her ear.

"You know, I was moaning your name. Not Pansy's. And sometimes, I still moan you're name." He said, before turning around and walking away. Hermione rolled her eyes. Sure he did.

"Flat 208. London." She shouted tossing the powder to the ground. Green flames rushed up around her, flooding her sight. She stared at Draco's retreating form until it was replaced with the dingy carpet of her flat. She sighed and headed back towards her bedroom.

This time, Ron's red head rested on a pillow. She unbuttoned and slipped off her jeans before climbing in bed with him. She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, but in his sleep he rolled on to his side and away from her. She rolled on to her back and stared up at the ceiling.

The swirls and bumps of the popcorn texture formed shapes. She traced different ones with her eyes, pretending they were forming dogs and stars. One shape looked like a person's face with lips puckered as if they were about to kiss someone. Next to the face was a few popcorn bumps that created a frog, just like the old fairytale of the princess who kissed a frog. She laughed softly to herself, not wanting to wake her sleeping husband.

Her mother had read that story to her a thousand times when she was a child. She'd put Hermione on her lap and the little girl would lean into her mother's chest and listen to the story until her eyelids became to heavy to keep open.

Hermione sighed. She'd never gone back and found her parents. When she'd talked about her plans of going and undoing the spell with some of the Order members they'd looked at her pitifully and told her the spell could never fully be undone. It had something to do with how it changed the brain. They said it was more likely that undoing the spell would cause her parents to suffer brain damage, so she had just left them in Australia.

Though, she did still wish that her father could've walked her down the aisle at her wedding. The day hadn't felt right without them there. Mr. Weasely had offered, but she'd refused and walked by herself.

She rolled on to her stomach, wincing at the dull pain. She closed her eyes buried her face in her pillow. There were a lot of things she wished she could've changed about that wedding, but it hadn't really been her wedding as much as just a regular old Weasely wedding, which meant it was huge and Molly Weasely run. As much as she adored her mother-in-law, she couldn't stand the woman sometimes.

The bed shifted as Ron grunted beside her.

"Mione?" He whispered, rolling over to look at her. She stilled, pretending to be asleep. She didn't feel like explaining where she'd been or really talking at all. He sighed before leaning over and kissing the back of her head.

"I've gotta go back into work, babe. They just let me come home to grab a few hours of sleep. I'll be home tomorrow morning." He mumbled into her hair, knowing she was awake. He got up and walked into the living room where he apparated back to the Ministry.

Hermione rolled on to her side and stared at the indent where Ron had been laying. She scooted over into it, smiling slightly at the warmth he'd left behind.

_**AN: **_

_**Let me know what you guys think in the reviews! :)**_


	6. Non Nutritional Dinners

**AN: Just a reminder, I rewrote the first two chapters completely and uploaded them a few hours before this one, so be sure to go check those out! **

**_-Dramione-_**

_Tap. _

_Tap. _

_Tap. _

Hermione groaned. What in the earth was making that infernal tapping noise? She sighed and rolled over, burying her face in the pillow.

_Tap. _

Grumbling, she sat up and turned around to look at the bedroom window. A tawny brown barn owl fluttered outside it. It brought its beak back to the glass.

_Tap. _

"If you tap one more time, I'm going to wring your bloody neck." Hermione said to the owl as she walked over to it. She flipped the latch and lifted the window open. The owl flew in, hooting.

"Will you shut up. It's 1 in the damn morning." The witch growled as the bird perched on one of the room's nightstands. It stretched out its leg impatiently for her to remove her mail.

"Fine, fine." She muttered, untying the twine holding the letter to the bird. The bird hooted at her once more before taking off out the window. She glared at its retreating form until it disappeared into the night. She glanced at the parchement in her hand and rolled her eyes at the Hogwarts seal on its back. McGonagall just did not give up.

She wandered into the living room, flipping on the lights as she went. She tossed the letter on the table and walked over to the fridge to look for something to eat. She grimaced. Hadn't she said she was going to go grocery shopping yesterday? She pulled out their last package of tortillas and the tub of butter. At the very least this would be better than nothing. She turned and grabbed a butter knife from the cutlery drawer before flopping into one of the kitchen chairs. She buttered one of the tortillas and put it in her mouth, holding it between her teeth as she broke the letter's seal.

"Alright, what do you have to say now, McGonagall?" She muttered to herself aas she took the tortilla away from her mouth.

"_Mrs. Hermione Weasley,_

_I assumed that you would need more information on the position and the duties it would entail before you could make a decision, so I took it upon myself to send you some more information._

_As the professor of Muggle Studies here at Hogwarts, you would be teaching students from years 3 to 7. Since the class is an elective, you would have only 6 different classes. Two for beginner, two for advanced, and two for any special subject courses you wish to offer. These special topics have to be approved by myself and the deputy headmaster Filius, but otherwise, they are completely of your own choosing." _

Hermione paused in her reading. What kind of special topics would she teach? Maybe she'd teach a class on microwaves. It'd interested Draco after all, and she had thought she'd never get him interested in Muggle culture. She laughed shortly, before considering the question seriously. Something on movies would fill the class up easily an get students interested in Muggle technology. She shook her head. Why was she even thinking about this? It wasn't like she was going to take the job.

"_By the last day of June, it would be expected of you to have finished your syllabus for each of your classes and have them submitted to me so that I can review them as well as a book list for your students. In addition, you should have your lesson plans completed at least a week in advance; however, these do not have to be submitted to me for review. _

_In addition, you would be required to hold detention twice a month and would be in charge of overseeing two Hogsmead trips per year. If you so chose to, you could also become the advisor for the Muggle Studies Club on campus. It includes only three students at the moment, but I am hoping that it will grow as time passes." _

She snorted. A muggle studies club? That would never become popular at Hogwarts. Besides, when did Hogwarts have clubs? The closest they'd ever had when she'd been a student was Dumbledore's army. She took a bite of the tortilla. A potions or charms club, she could see, but a muggle studies one? She wasn't so sure about that.

_If you have any further questions, please feel free to floo call me at your convinece. As I stated in my previous letter, we would really like you to join us here at Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley. All of the staff here feel that you would be the perfect professor to teach our students about the Muggle world. As you once told me many years ago, the only way to bring the Muggle and Wizarding world closer together is education." _

Hermione grumbled. Of course the old woman would use her own words against her.

"_Remember, I need you to send me an owl within two months to claim the position. Otherwise, we will begin interviewing other applicants. _

_I hope to hear from you soon, _

_Minvera McGonagall _

_Headmaster of Hogwarts"_

Hermione took another bite of her tortilla, finishing it off. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She should really just write out a refusal now. She couldn't take this job. She was happy at the Ministry. She was making a difference there.

She barked a short laugh. It didn't seem like it though. Last Monday, she'd been called a Mudblood as she walked to her office. Who had it been? Astoria Greengrass? She rolled her eyes. That woman couldn't keep her opinions on anything to herself, particularly her distaste of the nonmagical world. She never shut up about how the Muggle and Wizarding interrelations department was a waste of Ministry money. Sadly, more people in the Ministry than she cared to admit agreed with Greengrass, and it seemed like no matter what did, she couldn't change their minds. The older generations were stuck in their ways.

She put the lid back on the butter and glanced at the clock. 3 A.M. She yawned. She walked over to the fridge and put the food in it before tossing the butter knife in the sink. She'd do the dishes in the morning. She flipped off the kitchen light and headed back to bed. She'd write a response to McGonagall later. For now, she'd just go back to bed.

_**-Dramione-**_

Ron swore under his breath. The damn lock had a vendetta against his key. Harry must have hexed it last time he was over. The thing never wanted to work for him.

"Alohomora." He whispered, grinning as he heard the lock click. He shuffled into the flat, taking care to step quietly so as not to wake his wife. He kicked off his shoes and walked into the kitchen. He was starving.

"Do we have anything to eat?" He wondered aloud. Hermione usually did the grocery shopping, but she hadn't bought anything in two weeks. Maybe he should do the shopping and surprise her. He frowned. Then again, he didn't know the first thing about grocery shopping. He didn't know what to get. Maybe he should just leave it to her.

Flipping the light on, he shambled to the fridge tiredly. There was some lunch meat that looked like it was preparing to go old. He brought it up to his nose and sniffed. It smelled all right. He grabbed a beer and sat down at the table with the meat. Lifting a slice out of the plastic container, he dangled it over his mouth and dropped it. Chewing he glanced at the parchment across from him.

He wiped his hand on his shirt and picked it up. His brow furrowed as he read.

"_Mrs. Hermione Weasley,_

_I assumed that you would need more information on the position and the duties it would entail before you could make a decision, so I took it upon myself to send you some more information."_

Previous letter? Was McGonagall trying to recruit Hermione as a teacher for Hogwarts? He skimmed over the rest of the parchment. Why hadn't she told him about this?

It would be a great opportunity for her. Hogwarts never went to people asking them to be professors. People always came to them instead and begged to work there. It looked fairly prestigious on a resume.

"McGonagall really seems to want her." He mused aloud. "Maybe she's been making bigger waves at the Ministry than I've noticed." He smiled proud of his wife. He'd always known she was going to change the world somehow. She had too much fire in her not too.

He picked up another piece of lunchmeat. She probably hadn't told him yet cause she was waiting for things to be more concrete. She always seemed nervous about taking big steps like this. He grinned, an idea striking him. He could announce it tomorrow at dinner at his Mum's for her, so she wouldn't have to be nervous about telling everyone. Merlin, they were all going to be so proud of her.

He tossed the empty container in the trash and refolded the letter, placing it back in its original position. Walking back to the bedroom, he pulled off his shirt and kicked off his pants. He smiled at the sleeping form of his wife before crawling into bed next to her. He curled against her, placing his arm around her midsection.

_**-Dramione-**_

**AN: If I could have anything for Christmas, I think it would be a review. Too bad Christmas is six months away. I guess I'll just have to keep writing in the meantime! ;) **

**Let me know what you guys think in the reviews! I'd love to hear your opinions! **


	7. A Break in the Case and for Lunch

"Finite incantatem." Hermione mumbled with a wave of her hand. The charmed alarm she'd set last night quieted, and she groaned into a pillow. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Keeping her eyes closed, she fumbled for her wand on the nightstand.

"Tempus." She whispered, peeking open one eye to check the conjured numbers. 6:45. She sighed and ran a hand over her face.

"I suppose I should get up." She grabbed the pillow next to her and put it over her face for a moment, taking solace in the darkness it provided. Outside the bedroom window a bird chirped. She frowned and threw the pillow at it.

"Can't they nest somewhere else?" She grumbled to herself, standing and stretching. She walked into the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker, but she paused as she reached the doorway. Her eyes had forced the rest of her to stop walking when they'd noticed the letter from McGonagall on the table.

"Shit."

She grabbed it, hastily. Turning it over in her hands, she looked for any signs that it'd been read or otherwise messed with.

She sighed in relief. It looked the same as it had last night. Maybe Ron hadn't seen it. She bit her lip worriedly. She shoved the letter in her briefcase, which was still laying on the counter where she'd left it a few days ago, before turning to the coffee maker.

**-Dramione-**

"Weasely, Potter, Kinglsey wants you in his office. Now." Savage snapped at the two aurors as he walked by their desks. Ron rolled his eyes at the back of the head auror's head.

"Yes your highness." Ron said under his breath. He shuffled the papers he'd been working on into a pile and stood.

"Give the man a break, he's stressed." Harry said, clapping a hand on his red-headed friend's shoulder. Ron shrugged.

"So am I. Doesn't give me an excuse to be a wanker, does it?"

"Neither does being jealous that you didn't get the position of head auror." Harry said, glancing at Ron as they walked to the Minister's office.

"Oi. I am not jealous." He said with a huff. Harry simply nodded and kept walking.

"It was just because he seniority anyways." He muttered.

"And you say you're not jealous." His childhood friend replied. Harry pushed hair back with his hand and sighed. He was getting increasingly more and more tired of hearing this conversation.

"I'm not. I'm just saying it's not fair. That's all." Ron responded, biting the inside of his lip. "Savage never does anything. Just sits on his ass. Why didn't Kinglsey give the position to someone who actually contributes to the department?"

"Like you?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. The redhead shook his head.

"Or you."

"Look, I'm sure that Kingsley had his reasons for picking Savage." Harry said, sighing. He rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"I know." Ron paused, looking at the other man. "Anyways, what do you think Kinglsey wants to see us for?"

"I'm hoping a lead." Harry pushed his glasses further up on his nose.

"You're in luck then." A deep voice said from behind the two. The two men rolled their eyes at the Minister. He enjoyed messing with the aurors in an attempt to keep them on their toes, according to him.

"Really? What is it?" Harry asked the older man. Kinglsey stepped forward between the two.

"I think that's a conversation for my office, don't you?" Kinglsey said, raising his eyebrow as he looked down at the other

"Of course, sir." He said with a nod of his head. He looked over at Ron and furrowed his brows. The redhead shrugged back at him.

"In we go." Kinglsey said, opening his office door and waiting for the other two to step in before him. Harry and Ron walked in and sat in the two blue cushioned chairs in front of the Minister's desk.

"Now, you two went to school with a Gregory Goyle, correct?" He asked as he settled into his own chair.

"Yea. He was one of Malfoy's goons." Ron said with a snort.

"Have either of you seen him since your time at Hogwarts?" They both shook their heads.

"I haven't seen him since the Death Eater trials. I figured he'd left the country or something." Harry said, leaning back.

"That's what we thought as well; however, it appears as if Mister Goyle is back in London. " Kinglsey paused and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk, "We found his wand at the last murder."

"At the last murder? I searched that crime scene myself, and I didn't see anything." Ron said, his voice raising.

"Another body was found this morning. Trisha Buttermere. I believe she worked at Twilfitt & Tattings." Kingsley replied with a sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are we sure she was killed by the same person as the others?" Harry asked, his forehead furrowing again. Kinglsey pulled a sheet of paper from one of the files on his desk and handed it to Harry.

"She was strangled with a piece of wire and there were traces of lovage in her stomach, just like the others." Harry said as he read the incident report.

"And you say they found Goyle's wand on the body?" Ron asked. He'd known Buttermere. She'd been at Hogwarts with them, but he couldn't remember if she'd been in one of the classes above or below him.

"Not quite. It was actually found in the gutter next to the body." Harry muttered as he continued reading, "They tested the wand. It was used to conjure wire."

"That's it then. Goyle's our guy." Ron said with a sigh of relief. They'd been chasing this killer for months.

"We don't know that for sure." Kinglsey said gruffly, "I need you two to track him down and bring him in, so we can get a confession." Ron rolled his eyes and stood.

"Of course, sir. We'll get right on it." Harry said, nodding at his boss. He took the folder that held all the information on the most recent killing from Kinglsey's outstretched hand. The two left the office and headed back to their desks.

"Any idea where he could be?" Harry asked, as he skimmed through the folder.

"None. Let's canvas the Leaky Caludron and see if we can pick up any information." Ron said as they reached their desks.

"Alright. Want to head out now? We can get lunch while we're there." Ron nodded at his partner.

"Works for me. Oh hey, speaking of food. Are you going to Mum's for dinner tonight?" Ron asked Harry.

**-Dramione-**

"Draco?" Hannah nudged the blond man, trying to get his attention

, "Why in the world are you still here? Your shift ended an hour ago."

He sighed and sat up. The locked his hands together, reached back and stretched.

"One of my patients started having her baby during her appointment. Then there were complications. I just got out of the delivery room." He told his coworker.

"Yikes. Mom and baby okay?" She asked as she sat next to her friend.

". The baby's premature and a little underweight, but healthy. Mom was fine after a Pepper Up and a blood replenisher." He said with a tired smile.

"Good. Though, I wouldn't expect anything less from you." She said, taking her hair out of her ponytail. Draco glanced over at her, noticing her lack of green robes.

"You off?" He asked her.

"Yup, was just heading out to get some lunch." She said as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get the crease from the rubberband that had been holding up her ponytail out.

"Ah. Have fun. I'll probably stick around for a bit to see if they need any help. It's been a pretty busy day."

"You're more than welcome to join me." She said with a smile.

"I'm fi-" Hannah cut him off.

"Draco, you need to eat. You're running yourself ragged. You're in no position to help anyone right now." She said, looking him over and taking in the bags under his eyes and his rumpled robes.

"Okay. Okay. What are you, my mother?" He said, rolling his eyes and standing. She winked at him.

"I would hope not."

Draco hung his healer's robe in his cubbie and grabbed his jacket he'd left there this morning. Shrugging it on, he nodded at Hannah.

"Ready?" He asked her.

"Yup." She said with a smile. The two walked towards the hospital's apparition point. Hannah scooted closer to him, letting their hands bump together as they walked.

**-Dramione-**

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I've been out of state visiting family. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading. Please review! :) **


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